♫ Ray Heredia - Súmamela Bien ♫

"Add it up add it up add it up add it up add it up well

for if you add it up wrong

times will change" (translated)

Coming back to Valladolid has been something of a reset, and something of a familiar return as well. After three weeks off with my non-Spanish amigos in other countries, I didn't expect to miss Spain so quickly. With every day away, there's a little counter that goes off in my head, minusing another possible day I could be in Spanish-speaking territory. For me, it's a precious thing, knowing I won't have many opportunities like this.

But it was also daunting to return. Will things be the same? Ought they be, anyway? What are the changes, both of me and the place? If travel changes you, then my UK + Poland trip reminded me that I actually crave routine sometimes. I didn't expect this longing to be so strong. We all have images of ourselves, and mine was that I could more or less take on the throes of travel in whichever form it took. The deadline of travel gives you a promise - that you'll return to ordinary life, so don't waste a second! I knew there would be chaos, but this was always something I could overcome, justifying to myself that it's travel, and therefore something transient.

I suppose these feelings can come at you at different times. I know I've certainly cherished the unpredictability and novelty of chaos at times, and I've craved certainty in others. In truth, I think it's something of my love for my job right now that I want to take full advantage of. The independence of managing your life outside of home is also something I'm loving at the moment.

Motorbike Penguins (Los Pingüinos)

An idea occurred to me just before leaving for Christmas, when I looked at the map of 'Biki', an app for city bike sharing in Valladolid. There are little markers for each bike charging station, and there's an interesting outlier from the splodge of stations in Valladolid. About one hour's ride south, there's a single bike station in 'Puente Duero'. I had no clue what was out there, so I took a Sunday morning to ride down from my apartment to my destination. Clearly, someone must use this route if they bothered to put them there. I angled through the central Valladolid city streets, meandered aside the larger highways on the outskirts, and trudged through the muddy forest bike path. The pine trees on the way through this part were painted. Through the frost of winter these parts are very still, with very little movement save for the distant cars, the sparrows and magpies, and intrusive Australians on bikes.

I wasn't halfway down the main road to Puente Duero when I was assaulted with noise and wind coming from ahead. The annual parade 'desfile' of the pingüinos of Valladolid was underway. Spawning from out of town and moving in the direction of the city centre like a horde of raiding barbarians on testosterone and exhaust, I was tiny to them. There was certainly an awesome drama to it all - me with my pushbike and a thousand motorbikers zooming down beside me. My only saving grace was my moral highground - environmentally, with regard to health, etc... But then again they looked like they were having a LOT of fun.

This went on all weekend. I asked one group of very obvious motorbikers what it was all about. They explained that not only are motorbikes a big deal in here (completely unbeknownst to me before), there's actually three separate celebrations in a month. At one point, the one event split into three, like warring states. The internal politics of the penguins on motorbikes means they have to stay separate. During the night, en centro, there was a pungent change in air quality, as hundreds of bikes streamed through the middle causing traffic chaos for little discernible reason. It's a beautifully pointless expedition.

I have a video of another man's Colombia flag getting stuck in the back wheel of another, bang in the middle of an intersection. They were stuck there awkwardly for a few minutes in their deflated macho-ness. What this should tell you is that I would apparently rather film this than help two people in need. Hm.

Teaching Colonialism to Columbus' Favourite City

I'm really glad to be back at school - wow! I am getting along really well with everyone there, and their patience with my Spanish is the perfect environment to learn. The head teacher let me sit in on a teacher meeting and I got to see what serious business looks like. In Spanish. I was essentially the guy taking los minutos. Sometimes, I need to remind the other teachers what my role really is. I'm no qualified teacher myself. No training, just intuition and guessing!

I have one teacher who tried to pull me up on not being able to fill the last 3 minutes of class time. They went as far as to pull the head teacher aside "por un momentito" instead of talking to me. This was especially strange as I thought the rest of the class and my teaching had been going great. As the head teacher explained to me, some only "Ver la paja en el ojo ajeno, y no la viga en el propio" They see the straw in your eye, but not the beam in their own. I was left flat that day after an otherwise really positive week. It seemed like I had been told off, in secret, for no reason at all.

I was really happy with my lesson on Invasion Day/Australia Day. It was an interesting mission given to me. Valladolid is where Columbus chose to settle and die - there's plenty of museums and statues around celebrating his conquests. In addition, I get the sense there's sporadic education on how Spanish imperialism has violently formed the world today. Either way it presented a niche and really fun challenge to compare this to Australian state history. The form of the class was thus:

• concept of countries' national days around the world
• small Australian history introduction
• Important Australian dates for the country, Indigenous Australians and implications (1788 - 1901 - 1967 - present)
• Australia Day celebrations, covering what is typically expected of a celebration on the day
• Introducing Invasion/survival day (the other perspective)
• Discussion + character roleplays:
  • Tourist
  • Immigrant to Australia
  • Indigenous Australian
  • Australian-born citizen (me)
• Reflection + group debate
• Proposed alternatives (e.g. Eureka Stockade 3 Dec, 19/01 January, May 8 etc.

Surprisingly, I was able to adapt this form for most every age group. The 17 year olds were able to grasp all complexities, with views on both sides (One boy was insistent on 'pasado pisado' meaning the past is in the past.) It is easy to compare the colonial situation in Australia to that of Columbus and South America. I was wary not to force the concept down their throats. I also really wanted to convey all the sides, so they could reach their own conclusion. It wasn't easy to explain the concept of importance of invasion day without being didactic, but the roleplays helped. This wasn't necessarily my mission in explaining Australia Day, but giving a presentation on merely the celebrations and parades would be a lie. What surprised me was how young the kids were, while also being able to grasp why Australia Day is so contentious and why people want it changed.

World Dinner (II)

Meals served:

🇵🇸 بخاري 🇵🇸

🇷🇴 Bulz Moldovenesc 🇷🇴

🇳🇱 Appelflappen 🇳🇱

🇫🇷 Hachis Parmentier 🇫🇷

🇧🇬 Сарми 🇧🇬

🇵🇱 Dewolaje 🇵🇱

🇦🇺 Vegemite on toast, fairy bread 🇦🇺

Proud aussie today.